The Chromebooks have landed. They cannot be considered a toy or an experimental fad by Google, any longer. Now they are here to stay as the new and revolutionary intelligent terminals of the Cloud Centric Age. In the past, we used to installed all apps in our computers, and run them locally. For that we needed faster and faster PCs with more and more memory, both ram and hard disk.
Now, as in the beggining, the apps are installed on servers, somewhere in the cloud and we just need an intelligent terminal to access and use them. This approach allows these apps to be more powerful, and save us the work and pain of keeping them updated and well configure. That job is now in the hands of the experts. We just need to subscribe to the appropriate sites and choose powerful passwords to keep our data safe.
Obviously, not all the traditional locally installed applications, like Photoshop and Microsoft Office have equivalent online apps. But the development of online, web based apps, is moving rapidly and as of now there are apps for creating and handling documents, photos, images and even videos that offers most of the functions that most of us would ever need. And as time goes by, they will only grow more numerous, capable and powerful.
We could still use a traditional PC to access the Internet and connect with all those new and exciting web based apps, but PCs are not configure and optimized for that. Personal Computers are best used to run local applications where we, the end users, need to keep configuring and optimizing them for whatever task we are running. Even more, PCs need lots of maintenance. Over time, a PC used to access the Internet will get slow, infected with viruses and loaded with documentation and data that may be lost whenever the PC starts to misbehave.
So we need a new kind of web access device. One that is not bug down by viruses. One that does not require continuous updates, optimization and reconfiguration. One that does not requires a lot of maintenance. One that is optimized and configure to run online apps. One that turns on almost immediately and just keeps running. One that allows you to forget about the PC and concentrate on the task at hand.
Google, the online search and services giant, have design and develop that kind of intelligent terminal: The Chromebook. It took them years of research, development and implementation. This is not the result of a weekend hack by a bored hacker. The Chromebook is a well design, implemented, and verified device. It went thru various iterations, both in the Operating System, Internet Browser and hardware, till the new generation of Chromebooks has become ready for mass deployment.
The Chromebook, the intelligent Web-Cloud terminal of the 21st century is here! Tested, ready and willing to take over the world. And backed by the main Internet search and services company.
So it is about time you get yours. And although all Chromebooks use the same Chrome Operating System, based on Linux, there are various models at various prices, starting at just $200. There is even a Chromebox, a small form factor desktop unit, that you can use to replace your aging Desktop Tower.
Chromebooks are not only fast, mobile, and web optimized; they also consume less energy than your traditional desktop or laptop, and because of their low price, the savings on electricity alone will cover the cost of the unit within a short period of time.
So my friend jump into the bandwagon of the immediate future. Get your Chromebook today. At their current prices they make a great second computer. One that will immediately become your primary (Internet access) device; leaving your old desktop/laptop, gathering dust, waiting for you to run that piece of software you don't want to run online. Mine has been collecting dust since the summer of 2012.
I swear to God, one of these days I will bring it back from under the bed, set it up on the Desktop, and installed the latest version of Debian, PCBSD or a similarly powerful, conventional Operating System on it. I still miss the old days... reconfiguring, optimizing and recompiling the entire Operating System... and, yes, there are things you might not want to run online. But even then, is nice to have the Chromebook around to get back online, whenever you want.
So my friend, welcome to the new online, Chromebook based world.
Have fun.
God Bless.
Amen.
"Even more, PCs need lots of maintenance. Over time, a PC used to access the Internet will get slow, infected with viruses..."
ReplyDeletePCs? You mean Windows, surely?
"Over time, a PC used to access the Internet will get slow, infected with viruses and loaded with documentation and data that may be lost whenever the PC starts to misbehave."
ReplyDeleteSpeak for yourself. Some of us know how to maintain our PCs, whether they're running Linux or Windows, to avoid such problems.
Trusting everything to the Cloud is just stupid, IMO. The failing in Chromebooks is that they require an active Internet connection to do anything, making them paperweights if the Internet is down. (don't act like it never happens) Plus, there are hybrid Linux operating systems (like the one I'm running) out there that are optimized for both desktop and Cloud, making them a better choice than running your entire OS from your web browser.
Linux PC's are more flexible, but yes they need maintenance too. Otherwise your own actions will misconfigure them...
ReplyDeleteOF course I speak for myself. Yes indeed some of us know how to maintain our PCs to avoid such problems, but that takes time. Perhaps it would be easier to have a second Chromebook "intelligent Internet Terminal Device" for all that facebook, twitter.com youtube watching, and social surfing in general, so that your main PC will stay clean and safe...
I swear, As soon as Debian 7 comes out I will bring Desktop PC back to the Desktop to install it and have some fun with it, but honestly what I basically do is writing and surfing and promoting stuff online. For that a Chromebook is just better, safer, easier, faster, and uses a whole lot less power... something that adds up at the end of the month.
I have about 15 family members who run Linux and honestly Im not sure what youre talking about.
DeleteI had about 10 of them on Kubuntu 10.04LTS and just moved them this past few months to version 12.
In between, I did NOTHING.
THeir upgrades were done automatically if they wanted it to and KRDC is perfect for remote problem solving.
Im not sure what it is you do to misconfigure a computer but dealing with almost 2 dozen newbies, I havent come across any major problems that they created by reconfiguring soemthing.
With 7 people over 75 using Linux and with zero experience on computers, it hasnt been a nightmare. No one removed any critical file 'by accident' or reformat the drive.
Well talk again in 2014 when its time to update their Kubuntu. Im pretty sure that the lack fo maintenance (whatever that is... disk compression?) wont be a problem as long as the updates are always done.
As for Chromebooks, been there, done that,
Bought a 9inch netbook 4 years ago and it works fine using Linux (battery aside) with 1gb ram and 8gb SSD.
Im not a 'cloud' guy and the USB and SD card slots are the main things I use.
So I'm not exactly over the moon over something new that I did already 4years ago. And I cant fit a 11incher in my coat pocket like I could the 9in.
Ill get one, dont get me wrong. And it will be almost the same price I paid 4 years ago (250 vs 275).
All Im looking for now is for ways to dual boot Android with a real (KDE) Linux and Ill be getting one.
I have no use for the touch paradigms and tablets offer no benefit with many takeaways for how I use computers.
Chromebook is an old idea, marketed differently but really no different than the netbook surge of 2008.
At least now though, there is no Microsoft dumping 5$ Win XP into the market to play catchup and pressuring the manufactuters to where the ONLY configuration you could buy a netbook was 1gb ram and 250gb HD (which killed the whole idea of the netbook) and nothing else.
The so-called "cloud" is a really dumb idea created by IBM and Google for marketing and advertising. Only a clueless non-technical fool would even think of joining a "cloud" service. Not only will you not own or control your data, you will have zero privacy. The "cloud" is just another Big Brother data mining project sold via TV ads.
ReplyDelete@Anonymous on 20121203@2008EST:
ReplyDeleteKAMEHAMEHA!
I love keeping "my" pc the way I want. I want it to stay the way I want. I can go that extra mile. That is, exactly, the fun and joy of GNU/Linux.
ReplyDelete"because of their low price, the savings on electricity alone will cover the cost of the unit within a short period of time."
ReplyDeleteThat seems extraordinarily unlikely. 30 watts (saved, being generous) * 10 cents/kWH * 8 hours/day * 365 days/year = $10/year in electricity = 25 year "cover the cost" time for a $250 Chromebook.
Got one (typing on it right now) and love it. I also have a Thinkpad running Debian when I need extra speed and a Macbook but this is the machine I'm on most and definitely the one I take out of the house.
ReplyDeleteThe article author, while eloquently outlining the "new" future of computing in Internet services, makes mention of foregone viruses in personal PCs as if these Microsoft "Windows"based systems, while being the most popular, were the "only" computers used to any extent.
ReplyDeleteIt would be prudent and sensible if articles on recent computer history, do give recognition and credit to the several excellent technologies - in both Personal Computing and server arena, that stand out for themselves, particularly those that software technologies like UNIX and it's stepchild GNU-Linux that gave rise to and even now is principal foundation for the Internet, World Wide Web and todays iOS and Android mobile software that dominates the Social media universe.